With close ties to Washington University but a newcomer into the SBIR arena , Auragent Bio provides a platform for an increasing range of fluorescence-based analytical techniques. Effectively, the firm's ultrabright fluorescent probes can enhance the sensitivity of nearly any fluorescence-based assay . With what they have developed being almost entirely use-agnostic, this represents a disease-, biomarker-, and application-capability that is ubiquitously applicable and fundamental - effectively ean nabling technology that improves the sensitivity of (any and all) existing analytical methodologies. The company is providing bioanalytical techniques to detect protein biomarkers in extremely low concentrations in blood, serum, urine and other fluids. In the Spring of 2020, using the technology the firm had licensd from Washington University (St Louis MO) the firm received from NSF $100,000 (non-SBIR?) for a rapid COVID-19 test using the newly developed technology